Bukola Mary Ibitoye is a doctoral candidate at the School of Nursing and a recipient of an 2024 IMPaCT Salary Award.
March 7, 2024
Bukola's research (supervised by Dr. Bernie Garrett, Dr. Manon Ranger of UBC and Dr. Jennifer Stinson of the University of Toronto) has revolved around sickle cell disease (SCD), with a focus at the epicentre of this disease, Nigeria. Following a scoping review of Nigerian adolescents to discover their methods of pain management, Bukola discovered that they used various non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) that included some potentially harmful ones. In addition, the effectiveness of NPIs amongst this population is under-investigated. In light of her findings, Bukola is developing a patient-centred web-based pain toolkit of evidence-based NPIs that can introduce adolescents to safe and effective NPIs to reduce pain and educate them against harmful practices. The toolkit will have videos, animations, and downloadable pamphlets on various NPIs.
The funding for this project is provided by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research's 'Increasing Capacity for Maternal and Paediatric Clinical Trials' (IMPaCT), a Clinical Trials Training Platform. It will support training on how to design, conduct and communicate about clinical trials in children.
In evaluating Bukola's application for the reward, the reviewers noted that she is an "Impressive candidate presenting a potentially impactful clinical trial to improve pain management and quality of life in patients with Sickle Cell Disease."
Bukola is appreciative of the support for this important work, stating:
The RareKids-CAN/IMPaCT Salary Award will allow me to advance my skills in designing and conducting clinical trials in pediatrics, receive mentorship from established researchers, and network with fellow trainees. These skills and mentorship opportunities are crucial in advancing my research project, which is focused on developing a patient-oriented framework to guide the development and implementation of a pain toolkit, BoriZafi. BoriZafi will introduce Nigerian adolescents living with sickle cell disease to safe and effective non-pharmacological interventions to improve their pain experience during sickle cell crises.
Congratulations, Bukola, on your successful application for this prestigious award!
IMPaCT's mission is to "build a sustainable network with the next generation of perinatal and child health researchers to support career development, demystify the process of clinical trials and increase capacity for perinatal and pediatric clinical trials in Canada."
Some content for this article taken from the award application.